


Evil Superman, Lex Luthor, Sherlock Holmes, Wolverine, Jimmy, and Spock.

by lalejandra



Category: The OC (TV)
Genre: Crushes, M/M, Pre-Slash, Transformative Works Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-05
Updated: 2004-02-05
Packaged: 2019-07-17 14:10:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16097234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalejandra/pseuds/lalejandra
Summary: Seth is not sniffing Ryan's pillow. Except he is.For Pouncer, who wanted Ryan/Seth early in the series.





	Evil Superman, Lex Luthor, Sherlock Holmes, Wolverine, Jimmy, and Spock.

It took Seth a while, but eventually he did figure out one of the things that drew people to Ryan.

At first Seth thought it was his hotness -- but he wasn't really _so_ hot. He was, actually, rather average. Especially for Newport -- where, if you weren't born beautiful (like Summer), Daddy's money could make you that way (like Holly).

It certainly wasn't his sparkling wit, since he rarely talked, nor was it his stellar personality, since he seemed to be prone to punching the people who annoyed him. Which Seth actually took as a good sign -- as long as he wasn't being punched by Ryan, he wasn't annoying Ryan. This possibly meant that Ryan liked him, which was also a good thing, since Seth liked Ryan.

Seth would have liked to be able to claim that from the above evidence it was easily deduced that it was -- that it was _something_ that attracted people to Ryan. And, okay, yes, he could in fact claim that it was _something_ , but he was no Spock. Hell, he wasn't even Sherlock Holmes. He was just plain old Seth Cohen -- or Sid, if you asked Summer -- and he had no mad superhero powers, unless he counted his uncanny ability to find trouble any where, any time.

While Seth didn't have green blood or a loyal companion named Watson, he did have the pool house. So he only had that because Ryan never locked the door -- so what? He knew Ryan never locked the door because he liked to go in and sit and watch Ryan sleep and breathe. Seth liked to know that all was right in the world, and if sneaking into the pool house was how he had to do it, then that was what he was going to do.

Clearly not all was right with the world, but all was right with Ryan.

And he liked to sometimes go in there when Ryan wasn't there, and sit on Ryan's bed, and just. Look. Around. At Ryan's stuff. And sometimes stretch out on Ryan's bed and lace his fingers behind his head. And think about what it must be like to be Ryan, to be the kind of person that everyone either instantly loves or instantly hates -- at least he's never forgotten. Summer may call Ryan Chino, but she knows his name.

Sometimes Seth liked to sniff Ryan's pillows. Because Ryan always smelled kind of spicy and warm -- not like cookies or herb shops, but like the goulash his dad liked to cook. Paprika and curry powder, the kind of spices that make you cry if you put your nose too close -- or can even make you cry, just by its existence.

Seth was totally into it. But not in a gay way. Well, maybe a little bit gay, but he wasn't about to transfer his affections from the most beautiful girl in Newport to Ryan, even though Ryan did happen to be a total badass -- even though Ryan knew his name.

Plus the sniffing thing made him feel kind of like Wolverine, able to flare his nostrils and instantly sense when someone was around.

He had to wonder what kind of cologne Ryan wore. He didn't seem like the sort of guy to wear any cologne at all, but Seth knew that he used the same soap that Seth himself used in the shower, which didn't smell like paprika at all, so it couldn't be that. Seth couldn't bring himself to paw through Ryan's things, though. If he was leaving the door to the pool house unlocked, it meant that he either trusted the Cohens to not look through his stuff, or that he didn't think anyone would be interested in looking through his stuff. Or that he didn't have any stuff to look through -- which Seth knew couldn't be the case, since Seth's mom was the one who'd taken Ryan shopping, and she would have made sure that he got plenty of stuff.

So Seth sniffed his pillows and buried his face in the sheets and stared at the ceiling and wondered what Ryan thought when _he_ stared at the ceiling.

And he was doing this when Ryan came out of the bathroom, hair slicked back, a fluffy towel wrapped loosely around his waist, and water droplets still clinging to his skin. And he had nice skin. Maybe not as nice as Summer's, and maybe Seth wasn't going to rename his boat the Ryan Breeze, but he could still _look_. And what was Ryan doing here anyway?

"What are you doing?" asked Ryan mildly. But, of course, Ryan was always mild. And unassuming. Like Clark Kent -- until someone pissed him off and he beat the shit out of them. Like an evil Superman. If Superman was evil, that meant the world was backwards and Lex was a good guy. Seth could be Lex. He could be a good guy, the straight man to Ryan's fury.

"I. Uh," replied Seth, as suavely as possible -- which, he would admit, wasn't too suavely at all, but points for trying, right? Because it wasn't like he could tell Ryan that he thought Ryan wasn't there and he wanted to sniff Ryan's pillows.

"Are you -- sniffing my pillow?"

Seth dropped the pillow he was holding immediately. "Uh."

"Man, you're weird." And then Ryan just. Ignored him. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a white tank top and a pair of the boxer briefs that Kirsten insisted on buying for him -- she didn't buy _Seth_ designer underwear -- and Seth had to close his eyes when Ryan's hands went to the towel.

Well, maybe he peeked a little. Just to. See. Because who wouldn't? Although it did bring up an interesting question: Could Superman use his X-ray vision to see through his own eyelids, so that he could see even when his eyes were closed? Something to investigate.

"Are you going to tell me why you were sniffing my pillow, or is this just another weird Cohen thing that I'm better off not asking about?"

"The latter, definitely." Seth picked the pillow back up, and hugged it to his chest. Ryan was... impressive was the only word Seth could think of, but it didn't do Ryan justice. Because Ryan was more than impressive -- he was powerful and his body was all sharp edges and blurry curves. He wasn't real -- he was drawn. He was a comic book character come to life; Seth's very own superhero pal.

But if Ryan was Superman, Seth wasn't Lex Luthor. Seth was... Jimmy, most likely. Because that's the way life was and Seth was _always_ Jimmy.

"I thought you were at the Crab Shack all day today?" asked Seth, watching Ryan button his pants through slitted eyes.

"Not until two." Ryan pulled his shirt over his head, and buckled on his wrist cuff. "Which is soon."

Seth opened his eyes all the way. "So you're leaving now?" Ryan just looked at him. It had only been a few weeks, but Seth was already learning to decipher the Ryan Glare Code. "Okay, yes, obviously you're leaving now and that wasn't the right question."

"You're welcome to stay and sniff my pillows all you want." Ryan shrugged into a blue button down shirt and cracked his neck. As he walked across the room, he ran his fingers through his hair, and shook his head a little.

Seth took a loud sniff of Ryan's pillow and let out a sigh. "Ah, eau de -- "

"Bye." Ryan closed the door gently behind him, and Seth flopped back onto the bed.

Stupid stupid stupid.

But wait! Not so stupid after all. Ryan hadn't put on cologne. Ryan hadn't put on deodorant. Ryan hadn't put on anything at all except his clothes and bracelet -- no, wrist cuff. Apparently bracelets were what girls wore and wrist cuffs were what badass guys wore.

If the paprika smell was just the way Ryan smelled, then that was it. Pheromones! Which would also explain the large number of sweet honeys who were all hot for evil Superman, aka Ryan Atwood. Which would also explain why Seth's mom hadn't liked him at first, because she hated goulash and curry and food that made her eyes water.

Seth loved food that made his eyes water. He was clearly a sucker for pain, otherwise he wouldn't still have a crush on Summer. It all made sense now. It also meant that he _was_ Lex Luthor -- or, at least, like, _Smallville_ Lex Luthor. Young, sexy, savvy, hip. Desperately in love with Clark Kent, who held a powerful draw for him that he didn't quite understand. But they had a _bond_ , a supernatural bond, and a hotness bond.

And Clark had saved Lex's life, right? Seth and Ryan had kind of saved each other's lives. It all made sense. And Ryan's pheromones were saving Seth's life again, because if he didn't have to be Jimmy this time around, who knew what could happen? Their lives could totally change. He could kiss Summer -- Summer could remember his name. Ryan could have a real life. _Seth_ could have a real life.

He covered his face with Ryan's pillow and took a deep breath. The Ryan Breeze wasn't such a bad name for a boat. Well, maybe it was, but Seth could work with it.

  



End file.
